How can St. John non-profit organizations better meet the needs of the entire community? More specifically, what programs will engage teens? What can be done to increase parental engagement? How can the community assist people with mental health issues?
These were some of the questions raised by representatives of 18 non-profit organizations during a meeting held at the St. John School of the Arts on Tuesday.
The meeting was called to bring non-profit organizations together to identify common challenges and explore ways to collaborate and support each other, according to Sharon Coldren of the Coral Bay Community Council.
The organizations ranged from the well-known and established – like the Friends of the Virgin Islands National Park and the Gifft Hill School – to more recent initiatives spearheaded by a new generation of St. Johnians – like Society 340, which focuses on programs for youth and young adults, and St. JanCo, which seeks to promote cultural heritage.
While all of the organizations share a common goal of improving the well-being of community members, their approaches to helping humans and wildlife take many forms. Some address environmental concerns, others offer programs to build resiliency in the face of disasters, and others seek to make the arts more accessible.
Members of the organizations said they often face similar challenges – finding sources of funding, building a corps of staff and volunteers, and working with government agencies on the federal and local levels.
The group that met on Tuesday did not decide on a name or a series of actionable steps, but it did decide to continue to reach out to organizations that did not send representatives and to set a framework for collaboration.
It also set a date for the next meeting on March 7 at 11 a.m. at the St. John School of the Arts. During Tuesday’s meeting, nearly a dozen other local groups who were identified who are welcome to attend.
Celia Kalousek, whose company, CEKA Ventures, now offers consulting services, said there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. She said models for sharing programs, policies, information, training and planning opportunities already exist.
One of them is COAD.
“COAD stands for ‘Community Organizations Active in Disasters,’” said Kalousek, “but in ‘blue skies’ times, I refer to it as ‘Community Organizations Active and Determined.’”
Kalousek has worked with community organizations on similar planning initiatives in 2012, 2015, and 2018, and now intends to use that information to share at the upcoming meeting.
For further information, please email Kalousek.
